Yan Lianke was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China. He is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections, including Serve the People!, Dream of Ding Village and Lenin's Kisses. He is the winner of an array of literary awards, including China's Lao She, Lu Xun and Hua Zhong World Chinese Literature Prize. In 2014 was awarded the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize, whose previous winners include Vaclav Havel, John Banville, Harold Pinter, Haruki Murakami and Philip Roth. He has also been shorlisted for the Man Booker International Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He currently lives and writes in Beijing.